San Diego’s efforts to fight homelessness will be coordinated by a former gang member who turned his life around after serving time for possession of a deadly weapon and narcotics.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer is promoting Jonathan Herrera, 31, to become the city’s point person on homelessness, a job held by former White House aide Stacie Spector until she resigned abruptly in early May.

“Jonathan’s life story and what he has overcome to get to where he is today is a testament to the strength of his character,” Faulconer said Friday. “He can relate to the struggles people are going through to turn their lives around, and I think that’s going to be a tremendous asset as we work together as a region to address the homeless crisis on our streets.”

Leaders of the city’s two largest homeless service providers praised the selection on Friday, and said they’ve been impressed by Herrera’s work as Faulconer’s director of public safety and neighborhood services since early last year.

"He's a young guy and he understands the streets,” said Bob McElroy, chief executive of the nonprofit Alpha Project. "I've talked to him a lot and he's well informed on the issues and he's a good guy. I think he's a kid who's going to move the ball forward, I really do."

Deacon Jim Vargas of Father Joe’s Villages said Herrera has shown he’s a good listener and open to all ideas.

"He has the right personality, and personality is important," Vargas said. "He has all the qualities that are necessary."

McElroy and Vargas said Herrera’s relative lack of experience in such a key position was not a concern.

"We've got a lot of people sitting around the table who don't have one lick of practical experience as far as providing supportive housing, building homeless programs, or dealing with the homeless population," McElroy said. “He's gotten his hands dirty. He's got street cred with me and he's got some good ideas."

Herrera’s appointment, effective Monday, comes one week after another key local agency addressing homelessness got a new leader. Gordon Walker, credited with successfully reducing homelessness in Utah, was appointed June 22 to head the county’s Regional Task Force on the Homeless.

Herrera said on Friday that he looks forward to working with Walker and helping him understand the situation on San Diego’s streets.

He stressed that his new position is about collaborating with other groups and helping bring people from across the region together.

"My role is to ensure the city is an active and engaged partner in regional efforts," Herrera said. "There's a lot of great stuff going on -- there's no need to re-invent the wheel. I'm not someone coming in on a white horse with all the answers and all the solutions."

Herrera, who grew up mostly in southeastern San Diego and graduated from Helix High School in 2004, said he thinks his background will help him connect with homeless people and convince many of them to turn their lives around.

“I found myself sitting in my jail cell thinking to myself ‘what am I doing here -- I'm sitting here slapping generations of my family's hard work in the face,'" said Herrera, referring to his grandparents and single mother working multiple jobs to support him. "I made a decision that I was going to, as best as possible, change my life and use my experience to help other people come to that same realization."

Herrera was in and out of jail on the weapons charge and some probation violations from 2005 to 2007, but then turned things around.

He said many Latinos feel the need to be macho and hard-core, and that’s what prompted him to join a gang and made it difficult to leave.

"I wanted to be more than a product of my environment but felt an allegiance to that street element," he said.

Herrera said his history helped him empathize with the homeless.

"I know what it's like to be looked down upon -- to have doors closed on you simply because of the way that you look," Herrera said. "I think that's going to help me provide empathy and an understanding of where these individuals are coming from and also to develop solutions that will address their issues."

Homeless solutions offered by others might be more appealing coming from him, he said.

"I think a lot of times the problem isn't so much the message, but the messenger," said Herrera, adding that it’s crucial to build trust. "I think I'll be able to have those person-to-person relationships and provide a level of comfort and familiarity."

Herrera said he agrees with many that adding permanent supportive housing is the No. 1 priority for addressing San Diego’s homeless population, one of the largest in the nation.

But he said there are too many people on the streets for the city not to explore more short-term solution, such as additional shelter beds.

"When you look on the streets you see that the need is now,” he said. "And although permanent supportive housing is the end goal, we are three years out on bringing online the inventory we need to transition those individuals."

While Herrera is replacing Spector, who worked in the White House under President Bill Clinton, the name of the job and salary have been adjusted.

Spector was Faulconer’s senior adviser on housing solutions, while Herrera will be the mayor’s senior adviser on homeless coordination. Her annual salary was $175,000, while Herrera will receive $100,000.